North Petherton - 2012

After living in Bishops Lydeard, Jill and I moved to historic North Petherton, near Bridgwater, which lies under the foothills of the Quantocks. It was in a field below the town that I saw not one but two big cats! This, incredibly, was my third sighting of these elusive creatures! It was a beautiful winter's morning in 2012 and as I walked around the large field which lies below the town with my dog and headed towards a small copse in the corner, I saw a sight which stopped me in my tracks! There, about forty feet in front of us, two big cats ambled along the raised soil hedgerow bank ! The bank was open at this point enabling me to have a clear view of the two creatures! The first big cat was undoubtedly a black panther and closely following it was what looked like a brown puma! Neither animal looked at us but both just walked straight ahead before disappearing into a hollow in the copse! Immediately my dog ran towards them barking loudly and I knew I had to stop him without delay! I shouted at him at the top of my voice several times and as he reached the bank he stopped and ran back to me. There was no way that I was going to go looking for the cats in the hollow with him! I knew we had to leave the field straight away and we made our way across it and back up the hill. On the way home I told a few local people about my sighting and they were all shocked and amazed! One couple I met, who lived above the field, were particularly interested to hear the story, as their son worked for none other than DEFRA!When we returned home I told Jill about our adventure by the copse and then made my way back to the field with my binoculars, camera and shooting stick! On the way, I called at a bungalow above the field to ask if the owners had ever seen big cats there. The lady who lived there with her husband was not surprised to hear my account of the sighting and told me that other local people had said that they had seen a big black cat in the area too!As I walked down the hill towards the copse I surveyed the terrain and thought about the big cats, wondering where they were. It must be pointed out that the fields here are surrounded by thick, often hollow, hedges with deep ditches running alongside them, making perfect secret pathways for these most elusive of creatures. It would be possible for big cats to roam for miles in this terrain without being seen, except in the odd places where the hedges are thin and the banks exposed. The great medieval wood of Kingscliff in its steep-sided valley lies close by and this would also make a perfect home for them. As I approached the copse I saw a man walking his dog in the field and we started chatting. I told him of my sighting of the two big cats and he listened intently. Then he said " That explains why my dog was behaving in a strange manner this morning when we walked near the copse!" Incredibly it turned out that this man, who was walking his girlfriend's dog in the field, was a former Royal Marine who was actually a member of the group which was searching for the 'Beast Of Exmoor' in the 1980's!!!!!!! Together we looked into the hollow in the copse and agreed that it made the perfect temporary hiding place for big cats!

After this visit to the field I decided it was time to inform the police about my sighting and drove to Bridgwater police station. I duly reported the sighting and the police at the desk told me that it would be reported to their wildlife officer, who is based in Minehead. I later spoke to him on the phone and told him about the sighting in detail. He was not unduly surprised to hear about my sighting of these big cats and seemed very open to the possibility of big cats living in our countryside!The next day my friend Sean, a college lecturer in engineering, drove over to see me and we walked down to the field with my dog to investigate the copse, hedgerow and hollow further. We also looked into the incredibly thick hedge at the top end of the field and realised that it made a perfect lair! Could it be that the big cats were actually living there?Jill and I moved away from North Petherton a few days later (not because of the big cats!!!!) but one day I may return to the field where I saw the big cats, with my camera and a picnic, as it might be a long day! (It must be noted that a public footpath runs through the field where I saw the two big cats)

The copse

The hollow in the copse

The hollow

My friend Sean with my dog by the hedgerow bank where I saw the big cats.

Sean looking at scratch marks at the big cats' entry point to the hollow